


Ellie's big concert benefit

by DisneyBroadway123



Series: If my life had changed [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:39:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisneyBroadway123/pseuds/DisneyBroadway123
Summary: Hi all!! Man this chapter has been a pain in my rear end lately and I'm behind in my other fanfic's now thanks to my big brain. I decided to make this it's own separate chapter because I was so excited about it that I just couldn't wait!!





	Ellie's big concert benefit

  _It was finally here, the day I have spent the last three weeks preparing for September 19th, my thirteenth birthday. It was a fully packed day for me. I had a meeting with Matt Rodin in front of the Majestic theater in less than an hour, then I wanted to visit my papa and uncles grave before the show tonight, then at long last the show that was sure to be amazing. Me and Leo had planned out the entire show complete with video that would introduce me when I searched through and found an old recording of my papa filming one of my old favorite songs These Streets for the first time. My papa had filmed all of the songs from Bronx but that was one of my favorites. Me and Jess were slowly becoming best friends and when I told her a week ago about me being a DemiGod like all of my other mortal friends she took it with stride. I was even deeper with her than I had ever thought I would ever become with another person and for the first time I considered myself a member of the LGBTQ+ community for real not just a supporter._

I awoke to the sent of chocolate chip waffles, my favorite breakfast food and a ton of texts from friends at school or friends at camp wishing me a happy birthday and that they would see me tonight after the show. I even found a really good friend in an old friend of Ivy's that has seen how horrible she can be named Sam. It took me a moment to sift through and reply to all the messages of birthday greeting from Sam, Will, Nico, Luna, Jess, Dennis and my Auntie Julia. It might seem like a rather small amount to some people but for me it meant the world. I slowly rose from bed and walked out into the kitchen only to see my new dad, Micheal dancing around the large space with music playing in the background that I didn't recognize. Bobby walked out of his room still dawning an amazing bedhead as he rubbed his eyes and looked at our dad in horror. We coughed at the same time trying to get his attention.

"Wow, that was a lovely performance, dad. Please never do that again..." Bobby mentioned to his dad sarcastically as he sat down on the kitchen counter.

"How many times have I told you Bobby, no sitting on the counter!! Move out of my way.'" Micheal chided his son lovingly as Bobby rolled his eyes and moved down to the ground.

"Good morning Birthday Girl!!" Micheal yelled as he set down my waffles with a candle in the center.

"Shall we sing the annual happy birthday song my dear boy?" Micheal asked his son as he nodded enthusiastically I had no idea what was going on until I heard Bobby sing a very familiar song that I used to prefer to the old happy birthday song.

 _"(Bobby) A very merry unbirthday (Micheal) To who (Bobby) To me (Micheal) Oh you! (Bobby) A very merry unbirthday to you (Micheal) Who me? (Bobby) Yes you! (Micheal) Oh me! (Bobby) Let's all congratulate us with a cup of tea a very merry unbirthday to you! (Micheal) Now statistics prove that you've one birthday every year (Bobby) Imagine just one birthday every year (Micheal) Ah but there are three hundred sixty-four unbirthday's!  (Bobby) Precisely why we are gathered here today (Both) A very merry unbirthday to you, to you (Me) To me? (Both) A very merry unbirthday to you_ Bobby slid a gift from the other side of the table  _(Me) For me? (Bobby) For you (Micheal) Now blow the candle out my dear and make your wish come true (Both) A very merry unbirthday to you!..."_ After we had all got the laughter out of the way and caught our breathes we heard a familiar knock at the door. I instantly got an idea that everybody would understand in this house as I opened the door I heard Bobby steal my line.

"Wait... My dear I think we have a guest!!" In a perfect Phantom impression and I was doubling over with laughter once again.

"God, do you guys ever stop?" I heard Dennis ask from the hallway holding a massive present in his hands and he had to lean his head in order to roll his eyes at us.

"Geez Bambi, leave us alone!!" We answered the question at the same time causing even more laughter to happen.

"Micheal do you ever think your raising Ed and Shenzi from Lion King?" Dennis asked us teasingly. He lifted me up off the ground where I was wheezing out laughter and set me down at the kitchen table with Bobby next to me.

"Why am I best friends with you again Dennis?" I questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

"Because, I am inevitable. I literally do everything with you two idiots and you're complaining to me?!" He said looking very overly dramatic as I tuckered into my breakfast and conversation flowed easily between everyone at the table. After breakfast I opened my three presents that my "family" had gotten me. I got a beautiful new gown to wear today and tonight for the concert benefit that looked almost identical to Christine's masquerade dress.

"Micheal, how exactly did you do this?! I have always wanted this dress!!" I ran to him giving him a giant hug around the middle. As I opened up my other presents one of them had me confused.

"Who's are these from?" I asked the group of my friends and father figure.

"Those were found underneath the piano bench this morning and it's from your papa and uncle..." Bobby explained handing me the card to go with this time one from each of them. I wanted to open up Derek's card and present firstly and saved my father for last.

_Little love,_

_Happy birthday!! You have turned out amazing despite your upbringing of not having a family for almost two years. I may not always be around to protect you from the world itself but I know that you will do great things someday for the theater world if that is what you still wish to do._

_You have grown up so much in the past thirteen years but I love you more than anything in the entire planet and you're the best thing that has ever literally ran into my life._

_Wishing you the happiest of birthday's from your favorite uncle_

As I ripped off the amazing paper that was around one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I had ever seen. The mask that the phantom wears but in a necklace with a rose attached. I didn't even realize that I had tears running down my face until I was inside of Dennis's embrace as he picked up the necklace from my hands. 

"This is gorgeous!! Hold on let me put it on you..." Dennis says as I feel him reach behind me a unclasp the metal and put it around my neck.

"I love this so much!! I'm never taking it off." I announced sitting back and resting my legs on Dennis's lap.

I went for my fathers slightly larger gift next and wondered what it could possibly be. I decided to open the card up first,  a beautiful hand painted organ with music notes coming out of it.

_Princess,_

_Hard to believe that you are turning thirteen!! It feels like you were just barley old enough to the point where I could easily carry you around on my shoulders and be able to tickle you without running away from me. You're my beautiful girl and I hope that this present brings back all those same memories._

_I love you more than anything in the entire world and watching you grow up has been an absolutely beautiful thing. Make me proud and I love you to the moon and back again_

_With you always, Papa_

I opened the gift gently afraid of it combusting out of nowhere and turning into nothing but dust. As I opened at first I was confused it was a DVD of some kind so I put it inside of the player and heard the voice of my papa ring out from the player.

"Ellie, sweetheart, you may be young but you're already doing amazing things with your life. Just look I'm jealous of you already...." He moved the camera to the right and I saw a very young version of myself wrapped up in the arms of my uncle after watching a movie and I was asleep on his shoulder as my uncle watched me with a loving expression until he looked towards the camera and gave my papa his best halfhearted glare and whisper yelled at him from the couch.

"Thomas Henry Levitt when the little love wakes up you are so dead you little bastard..." But then I stirred in his arms and all of the anger left his body as I snuggled even closer to him. I was in deep tears at the emotion of the gift I was given and pulled out the DVD before I watched too much of it.

"Oh sweetie, I know, I know... You'll be alright." Bobby told me as quickly wrapped me in his arms and I just sobbed at the heart-wrenching pain in my chest of having lost my parents so young. I got up dried my tears and looked at the clock. It was 20 minutes until my interview with Matt, and I had to get ready. I ran and picked up my dress with the identical shoes and a little princess crown and went to my room to change. 

I came running back out five minutes later and saw the gang putting their gifts in the corner.

"Well, don't you look lovely my dear!!" I heard my Auntie Julia tell me when I came out and saw her holding a boxed gift with Jess right behind her holding a gift of a similar size.

"Thank you!! I love this dress so much!!" I yelled as I spun around and felt Dennis come up behind me and lift me up into the air as we both started laughing at each other.

We all rushed to the car and got into the car as I felt a text on my phone that was in my purse. It was from Nico.

_Nico: Hey, birthday girl!! We are so excited to see your show tonight, good luck with your Broadway. Com interview. I'll be waiting for the video to upload._

We drove to the Majestic theater and saw a camera man with Matt Rodin standing at the very front. Once I got out of the car I waved goodbye to my friends who had to go back home. 

"Hello there, I remember you, good girl Winnie Foster!! It's lovely to see you again." Matt said as he gave me a hug when we walked inside the majestic theater and saw Leo standing there waiting for me.

"You look beautiful Eliza!!" He told me with a kiss to my hand as I gave him a light hug and reached into my bag to pull out my DVD.

"Actually slight change of plans, instead of using These Streets may we use this please if it's not too late for changes that is." I asked handing him my DVD.

"Of course we can, I'll go screen this in my office. Good luck with your interview!!" He called as he went off to his office next to the lighting booth. I sat down on the stage next to the piano and waited for the camera to begin rolling. The cameraman made the motion that we were going and I saw Matt make his typical opening. 

"Hey everybody, my name is Matt Rodin here for Broadway.Com and this is a very special thing today. As I'm sure that most of you know as of now, Elizabeth Levitt is making her return to the Great Wide Way for one night only here at the incredible Majestic theater. Miss Elizabeth first of all happy birthday and thank you for joining me here today." Matt introduced the show as he had the camera man turn to show me on the piano.

"Thank you really it's amazing to be back in this theater, it was my uncle's second home he joked." I told him with a laugh. 

"I actually have a question for you... Was there any song that was really difficult for you not to put in this show?" Matt asked with an easy smile as he sat on the other side of the piano.

"Actually, there was. It really broke my heart that I completely forgot about my papa's favorite song from Hedwig And The Angry Inch which was Long Grift." I explained with a light smile as I got ready to play the tune if he wanted.

"Would you do the honors of giving the viewers a rendition of that? I happen to love Lena Hall's version." Matt replied excitedly.

"Of course, she's my biggest inspiration and the reason why Yitzach is one of my biggest dream roles in the theater business..." I began to play the old tune that used to ring through my house as I sang it. The beautifully haunting melody came back to me in an instant. 

 _"Look what you've done, you gigolo. You know that I loved you hon and I didn't want to know. That you're cool seductive serenade was a tool of your trade, you gigolo. Of all the riches you surveyed and all that you can lift. I'm just another dollar that you made, in your long long grift. Look what you've done, you gigolo. Another hustle has been run, but now you outta know that this fool can no longer be swayed by the tools of your trade. I'm just another John you gypped, another sucker stiffed. A walk on role in your script to your long, long grift. The love that had me in your grip, was just a long, long grift."_

"That was so beautiful!! I have some other questions for you as well. We all know that you were the amazing young songwriter for the newly revived A Bronx Tale. What do you think of the new production? Does it honor the memory you have of writing it with your parents?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The new production of A Bronx Tale is absolutely brilliant and I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. The memory still holds true of me and my papa sitting down and working on the character of Lorenzo that was the hardest part for me. Most people don't know this but my papa loved working on A Bronx Tale the most because it was the first time I got to work with him and laugh with him working on those amazing and inspiring characters." I hoped those were the answers he was looking for as I smiled at the piano remembering all of those moments.

"For my final question, it's more of the answer to a rumor that has been floating around since your dad wrote and composed for Bombshell. Did he write Second Hand White Baby Grand for you?" Matt questioned me with a slight hand gesture between me and the piano.

"To answer the rumor the answer is actually yes that rumor is correct. My papa noticed that as I grew older my obsession with both what he did and how he worked grew as well. So to commemorate that moment he wrote Second Hand White Baby Grand, which my audience will hear first thing tonight after the show starts." I explained to him.

"That's amazing!! Now your dress, where did you get such an authentic version of Christine's masquerade dress? It's so queen by the way." Matt exclaimed as I laughed at his goofiness towards my outfit.

"I actually just got this as a birthday gift from my adoptive guardian Micheal Wartella. Funny story, so these are the exact copy of her shoes but in a flat version because if I were wearing heels I am afraid I would have fallen straight on my face." I told him and we both started to laugh at my clumsiness.

"Well it was a pleasure seeing you old friend and I look forward to watching you slay tonight on this stage!!" He gave me a giant hug in congratulations. I heard the camera cut the rolling of film and I knew it was sent right over to Paul to put on the channel for the week. 

"Your version of Long Grift was beautiful by the way!! If future investors are looking for a future Yitzach I'll send them you're number." Matt's cameraman told me giving me the thumbs up.

I walked out of the theater and into the lobby and found Leo out there waiting for me to finish the interview.

"This will be perfect, if it's not too close to home for you I think it'll make a beautiful introduction to your show tonight. Do you have any other plans for the rest of your afternoon?" Leo asked as looped his arm through mine.

"I was going to sop by the flower shop and pick up some roses for my parents grave. I haven't visited them in a really long time." I told him as we walked out of the theater and stopped by street outside.

"Well just be sure that you're back here by six thirty tonight for half hour alright?" Leo ordered with a smile on his face as I nodded my head and went down the street to my parents old favorite flower shop on sixth street. I heard the familiar ding of the bell as I walked inside and up to the front desk.

"Hi, how can I help you today... Wait a half second I know you... You're Miss Elizabeth Levitt, good girl Winnie Foster right?" The store women asked me with a disbelieving look on her face.

"That's me!! I can't believe you saw that show. It was a crazy whirlwind that show. Anyway, may I please have two dozen white roses please." I told her nicely as she wrapped them in beautiful paper for me. I gave her money she asked for along with an autograph, gods it felt like forever since I have done those.

I walked to the graveyard where my parents were buried in the ground and saw a familiar stature in the center.

"Mr. Hades?" I questioned incredulously as I made my way to my parents grave.

"Hello my darling. Don't you look absolutely lovely. I hear you're putting on a show in your parents honor tonight, finally honoring their death." Mr. Hades mentioned to me as I laid down the flowers on their grave.

"Yes, sir that is true, it's something I have always wanted to do and I haven't done a show for anyone but Nico in such a long time. I miss the cheering my name, as selfish as that probably sounds to you sir." I explained with a light smile. He vanished into thin air giving me a moment to myself.

"Hi papa, uncle Derek.... It feels so weird to have to this like a normal mortal does. I miss you guys, more than I can possibly say to you in words. I'm doing much better now that I have Bobby and Dennis around. They did get together while I was not around to see the day tragically but I will get Nico and Will together eventually. I'm letting Nico grow up a few years before I get them together. I loved the presents by the way and I know you sent Mr. Hades down to deliver them and they really meant a lot to me. I have actually fallen in love with a girl surprisingly. I wish you two were still around because  I need your advice..." I was interrupted by a voice singing Phantom lyrics from across the graveyard.

 _"Wandering child, so lost, so helpless, yearning for my guidance..."_ Bobby's Phantom voice rang until he reached me and wrapped his arms around me resting his chin on my head.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked Bobby turning around in his embrace whilst his chin still rested comfortably on my chin.

"Because I know you more than you know yourself. It's 5:45 and you should be getting back to the theater. Are you hungry?" Bobby asked taking my arm as we walked back to the theater.

"Yes a little, more nervous now than I was this morning." I replied as we stopped in front of Shake Shack for a milkshake to tide me over until the end of my show. Once that was complete we walked to the Majestic theater where Nico, Will and Luna were waiting outside and marveling at the theater's atmosphere. Chiron was off talking with Micheal and Julia.

"Hi guys!!" I called out as we got closer to the group. I felt myself under attack from a massive group hug from my best friends at Camp. I was at first taken aback until after a moment I relaxed in the embrace of all my friends.

"We missed you, Elle. You look beautiful by the way, and your interview with Matt Rodin was really amazing. How did you know him?" Nico asked me as the group separated and we were still an embrace.

"I met him when I was four and my parents first did Bombshell, he does this game called Broadway's Red Carpet usually and I got all of his questions right at four years old. We became sorta fast friends after that and I always look forward to seeing him." I explained with a small smile at the memory as it reached six o' clock and I had to got backstage to prepare and I found a bunch of flowers from Broadway stars in the audience that night. I started to get ready emotionally for the night ahead of me when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!!" I called out to the person on the other side. I turned around to greet my visiter with an open smile that only grew when he walked through the door, my old Jessie Tuck Andrew Kennan Boldger. 

"Well, well, well if it isn't my good old partner in crime..." Andrew announced as he put his gift on the dressing room counter. I flung myself into his arms and started laughing at my old friend. 

"I missed you Andrew, almost as much as I miss that show. I'm glad that you could make it though, is any other Tuckie members with you or just you?" I asked him excitedly trying to figure out who else was with him.

"Micheal  came with me and is on his way down here and so is Robert. We joked that this was a Tuck reunion on our way over here." Andrew told me as I heard two other voices coming towards my dressing room.

"Micheal, Robert!!" I gave them a massive attack hug as soon as they walked into the room. I missed this, this family that I made while I was working on one of the greatest shows of my life. They all laughed at me and hugged me back as they handed Andrew their gifts.

"Thanks so much for coming, it almost makes me wonder who else I am bound to see tonight..." I said opening Andrew's gift as tears came to my eyes. It looked handmade by someone. It was a music box and when I opened it, I heard 'Top Of The World' from Tuck with two figurines of us standing in the giant tree.

"Oh, Andrew it's beautiful!! How did you get this?"

"I owed my friends who's a craftsmen a favor and when I heard you were coming back to Broadway for one night only I knew that I had to make that for you. I'm so glad you love it, I was a little nervous it would bring back some bad memories of your parents." Andrew explained as we heard over the intercom.

_"Miss Levitt it's half hour, I repeat this is your half hour call."_

"Alright, I guess that means we have to leave... We'll be back during intermission have a great show!!" Andrew took his two friends by the arm and took them out of the room. I took the next half hour to prep myself mentally and go out to the wings and watch as people filled the seats until I looked up again and I saw that even the boxes on either side of me were filled. 

"You ready for this?" Micheal whispered into my ear startling me at first until I took a deep breath and nodded just as the curtains went down and the lights dimmed.  I got myself ready for the video to start up on the stage as the projector came down and started to play that same video from earlier that day. I heard thunderous applause from all angels and laughter from all angels of the theater. The video documented every big moment in my life from the opening night of Bronx to my first bow on Broadway. Once the lights came back on I walked out onto the stage and looked out at the people here to support my family and myself.

"Good-evening Ladies and Gentlemen!!" I called out into the theater as applause decreased.

"Before this concert starts I would like to say a few words to honor probably why I am here before you today since most of you out there don't really know my origin story. I was born on this day September 19th 2003 and my mom took one look at me then turned me away to an orphanage. I don't remember much of the orphanage because I was so young but my first memory involves one person, Thomas Henry Levitt, my papa. He became my biggest idol as I got older and I learned all about how the theater world works. He showed me the beauty of the world around us and taught me that everyone in life deserves a second shot. As I got older and got my papa and my uncle together by shoving the two of them into a room at five years old, I learned how to write my very first show A Bronc Tale. I became the youngest songwriter on Broadway ever!! Then I got my first ever leading role in a musical that means the world to me Tuck Everlasting, it didn't last long but the show itself meant the universe to me. That night it closed was the worst night of my life because my papa and uncle's life's together were ruined in an instant. I spent the last two years shutting out the people that mattered most to me, my two best clowns in the entire world Bobby and Dennis. You might recognize Bobby as the original young C in A Bronx Tale and Dennis from our ensemble in that show. As I found myself in music again and allowed myself to heal finally from the pain I had known for so long, I became the women you see in front of you today." I finished my story and heard sniffles form the audience as I sat down at the piano and began my first story of that evening, the story of Second Hand White Baby Grand from Bombshell.

"I was four when Bombshell was in it's conception and my papa wanted to write a song both for me and for the main character Marilyn Monroe. Now me and her have very little in common except for how we grew revolving around one thing a piano and he thought and thought and thought until he got it and Second Hand White Baby Grand was born..." I began to play the old favorite song from the popular song built around one of the strongest women that had ever lived.

 _"My mother bought it second hand from a silent movie star it was out of tune but still I learned to play. And with each note we both would smile forgetting who we are and all the pain would simply fly away. Something second hand and broken still can make a pretty sound even if it doesn't have a place to live. Oh, the words were left unspoken when my mama came around but the Secondhand White Baby Grand still had something beautiful to give. Through missing keys and broken dreams the music was our own until the day we said goodbye. The baby grand was sent away a child all alone, to pray that somebody else would realize. That something secondhand and broken still can make a pretty sound even if it doesn't have a place to live.  Oh, the words were left unspoken when my  mama came around but the Secondhand White Baby Grand still has something beautiful to give. For many years the music had to roam. Until we found a way to find a home. So now I wake up everyday and see her standing there just waiting for a partner to compose. And I wish my mother still could hear that sound beyond compare I'll play her song till everybody knows. That something second hand and broken still can make a pretty sound don't we all deserve a family room to live. Oh, the words can't stay unspoken until everyone has found that Secondhand White Baby Grand still has something beautiful to give... I still have something beautiful to give."_ I heard rousing applause and whistles from the audience. It reminded me of all those nights watching the actress we had for Marilyn sing every night.

"This next song was one of my papa's favorites to sing and play when I woke up from nightmares late at night, because the original version was one of his very first Broadway shows that changed his life. When they revived it a few years ago he was one of the first to get tickets and I remember him being amazed at how this show still resonated with audiences over thirty years later..." I got the notes ready to play the classic Corner Of The Sky from the musical Pippin.

 _"Everything has it's seasons, everything has it's time. Show me a reason and I'll soon show you a rhyme. Cats fit on the windowsill, children fit in the snow. Why do I feel I don't fit in anywhere I go? Rivers belong where they can ramble, eagles belong where they can fly, Iv'e got to be where my spirt can run free, gotta find my corner of they sky. Every man has his daydreams, every man has his goal, people like the way dreams have a sticking to the soul. Thunder clouds have their lighting, nightingales have their song, and don't you see I want my life to be something more than long... Rivers belong where they can ramble, eagles belong where they can fly, Iv'e gotta to be where my spirt can run free, gotta find my corner of the sky. So many men are destined to settle for something small, but I won't rest until I know Iv'e got it all. So don't ask me where I'm going, just listen when I'm gone and far away you'll hear me singing softly to the dawn... Rivers belong where they can ramble, eagles belong where they can fly, I've got to be where my spirit can run free, gotta find my corner of the sky..."_ If I was tearing up already I knew I was in for a very long night, however this next song meant the world and more to me.

"Alright, so if my papa had an obsession with one person it would be the original writer of one of his favorite musicals Howard Ashman writer and director of Little Shop Of Horrors. He swore off the movie, but took me to see a version of the show by a local high school and the music changed my life and I have dreamed of playing Audrey in Little Shop. It's one of few characters that I consider a dream role of mine..."  I began to play the old classic in my house that I have been singing and perfecting since I was six years old and just playing it to my papa after long days at work.

 _"I know Seymour's the greatest, but I'm dating a semi sadist. So, I got a black eye and my arms in a cast. Still that Seymour's a cutie well, if not, he's got inner beauty and I dream of place where we can be together at last... A matchbox  of our own a fence of real chain link, A grill out on the patio disposal in the sink. A washer and a dryer and an ironing machine. In a tact house that we share, somewhere that's green. He rakes and trims the grass, he loves to mow and weed. I cook like Betty Crocker and i look like Dona Reed. There's plastic on the furniture to keep it neat and clean. In the Pine-Sol scented air, somewhere that's green. Between our frozen dinner and our bedtime nine fifteen. We snuggle watchin' Lucy on our big enormous twelve inch screen. I'm his December bride, He's father, he knows best. Our kids watch Hoody Doody as the sun sets in the west. A picture out of Better home and gardens magazine. Far from Skid Row, I dream we'll go, somewhere that's green."_ I heard even more applause and whistling this time coming from box five I looked up and saw Alan Menken sitting up there and he gave me wink to carry on with the show.

"Not many people are aware but my papa was the biggest sucker for a love song, especially Just The Way you are by Billy Joel. For some reason the words reminded him of my uncle, a person whom he loved more than anything in the entire world. Some nights I would wake up in the middle of the night before they finally got together and I would hear my papa playing this song on his grand piano and crying over the fact that my uncle could never possibly feel the same way towards him. My parents were kiI nda stubborn that way..." I told the crowd who laughed at the extent that the amount of pinning and I could almost see my papa blushing at the memory and my uncle teasing him about how much of a sap that he was.

 _"Don't go changing, to try and please me you never let me down before. Don't imagine you're too familiar and I don't see you anymore. I would not leave you in times of trouble we never could have come this far. I took the good times, I'll take the bad times, I'll take you just the way you are. Don't go trying some new fashion, don't change the color of your hair. You always have my unspoken passion although I might not seem to care. I don't want clever conversation I never want to work that hard. I just want someone I that I can talk to I want you just the way you are. I need you to know that you will always be that same old someone that I knew. What will it take till you believe in me the way that I believe in you. I said I love you that's forever and this I promise from the heart. I couldn't love you any better I love you just the way you are..."_ Yet again the tears from the meaning of the song to my childhood but I quickly blinked them back and started to smile at these songs and the good memories they held rather than the bad.

"My papa's favorite artist that used to ring through our home was the brilliant Elton John. He was actually my first ever concert at six years old. I was sick as a dog with a temperature of 112 degrees and my papa was extremely tempted to keep me home and invite Julia instead. However, with my puppy dog eyes that I learned from my best friend at the time and he succumbed easily. It became one of my favorite memories with my family of me my papa and Derek. When he played this next love song that had tears in both of my parents eyes from the emotion that he put into it, that changed my life..." I began to pick up the old tune that was sure to bring me to tears because it did before now. 

 _"There's a calm surrender to the rush of day when the heat of the rolling wind can't be turned away. An enchanted moment, and it see's me through it's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you. And can you feel the love tonight? It's where we are. It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer that we got this far. And can you feel the love tonight? How it's laid to rest. It's enough to make kings and vagabonds believe the very best. There's a time for everyone if we only learn. Life's a twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn. There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors. When the star crossed voyager beats in time with yours. And can you feel the love tonight? It's where we are. It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer that we got this far. And can you feel the love tonight? And can you feel the love tonight? How it's laid to rest. It's enough to make kings and vagabonds believe the very best. It's enough to make kings and vagabonds believe the very best."_ I heard the audience go nuts after that one and it made me feel like I was being back on the stage, my second home. It felt amazing to be entertaining again, and to see my audience love my work even though they were just covers made the feeling of being Winnie Foster come back in full force.

"Now, most people don't know this but like my Uncle I am also moderately good at the guitar but he didn't teach me. Micheal, my adoptive guardian now taught me when we were in Tuck together. One of my father favorite songs was by Simon and Garfunkle called April Come She Will. He always used to tell me that if he could go back in time and see any live concert it would be when they preformed this song during a free concert in Central Park." I retold the story of my papa's obsession with the old band that used to play on his old WalkMan when he was child. I walked off to the wings where Bobby shot me a wink and gave me my guitar as I gave him a megawatt smile. I sat back down on the little stool upstage of the piano and began to strum out the old tune that came back to me really easily. 

 _"April, come she will when streams are ripe and swelled with rain. May, she will stay resting in my arms again. June, she'll change her tune in restless walks she'll prowl  the night. July, she will fly and give no warning to her flight. August, die she must the autumn winds grow chilly and cold. September I'll remember a love once new has now grown old..."_   I put the old guitar back on the ground next to my piano not wanting to leave the piano that made my music come alive for people to enjoy.

"Fun fact about my papa, he loved Disney movies!! Lion King, Beauty And The Beast, Little Mermaid, Nightmare Before Christmas all of those. But I think his favorite was Hunchback Of Notre Dame because he loved the story along with those songs. His favorite song from the movie was always God Help The Outcasts and he used to love dressing me up like Esmeralda for Halloween when I went trick or treating." As I explained my story I turned my back to the screen where there was a picture of me as a young girl with a gap in-between my two front teeth. I cursed Bobby's name in the back of my head, but I could get him back for that later.

 _"I don't know if you can hear me or if your even there. I don't know if you would listen to a gypsies prayer. Yes I know I'm just an outcast I shouldn't speak to you still I see your face and wonder... Were you once an outcast too? God help the outcasts hungry from birth. Show them the mercy they don't find on earth. Please help my people we look to you still. God help the outcasts or nobody will. I ask for wealth, I ask for fame. I ask for glory to shine on my name. I ask for love, I can possess. I ask for God and his angles to bless me. I ask for nothing I can get by. Yet I know so many less lucky than I. Please help my people the poor and downtrod. I thought we all were children of god. God help the outcasts, children of god..."_   I dried the tears that had began to fester there because I didn't my audience to see me getting emotional. 

"Alright, if this next song does not make me cry I will be throughly surprised. I spent my childhood sitting where all of you are right now in the audience and I have seen Phantom almost seven times with friends and family. It's one of my all time favorite shows in the entire world and it's what inspired me to become an artist. My papa loved one specific moment because when he was a teenager seeing the original cast with his family it changed his life. That scene was the Wishing You Were Here Again on Gustave Daee's grave..." I told my audience only praying that this didn't lead to a massive meltdown in front of nearly 16,000 people.

 _"You were once my one companion, you were all that mattered. You were once a friend and father, then my world was shattered. Wishing you were somehow here again. Wishing you were somehow near. Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here. Wishing I could hear your voice again, knowing that I never would. Dreaming of you, won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could. Passing bells and sculpted angels cold and monumental. Seem for you the wrong companions, you were warm and gentle. Too many years fighting back tears, why can't the past just die?  Wishing you were somehow here again. Knowing we must say "Goodbye". Try to forgive, teach to live. Give me the strength to try. No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say "Goodbye". Help me say "Goodbye"..."_ As I figured the tears started pouring after that one and I heard gasps from across the theater, but I collected myself on my own and began to smile again. 

"I'm sorry, you can't say I didn't warn you though. That song always gets to me after he died, because after two years I still really miss him more than anything. I saw the revival of the next show and it's one of my biggest obsessions and considered a classic to me. Another one of my biggest dream roles in the entire world and thankfully a lot less emotional to me, it's Don't Cry For Me Argentina..." I dried the rest of my tears and began my next song with hopefully a much bigger smile than my last song I did.

 _"It won't be easy, you'll think it's strange. When I try to explain how I feel that I still need your love after all that Iv'e done. You won't believe me all you will see is a girl you once knew. Although she's dressed up to the nines at sixes and sevens with you. I had to let it happen, I had to change couldn't stay all my life down at heel. Looking of the windows, staying out of the sun. So I choose freedom running around, trying everything new. But nothing impressed me at all. I never expected it to. Don't cry for me Argentina. The truth is I never left you. All through my wildest days. My mad existence. I kept my promise. Don't keep your distance. And as for fortune and as for fame, I never invited them in. Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired. They are illusions, they are not the solutions they promise to be. The answer was here all the time, I love you and hope you love me. Don't cry for me Argentina. The truth is I never left you. All through my wildest days. My mad existence. I kept me promise. Don't keep your distance. Have I said too much? There's nothing more I can think of to say to you. But, all  you have to do is look at me to know that every word is true..."_ I could hear the audience be stunned to silence for a moment before the claps came back in even more force than before. 

"So, my dad was obviously my biggest supporter when I told him I wanted to be Winnie Foster in Tuck. It was an experience that completely altered my entire life for my Broadway stage debut. I loved the idea of being able to preform for children my own age and I really love this next song. It's called The Wheel and it's about the circle of life. Just imagine that your on a boat underneath the stars and you'll get the feel of how we staged it..." I said beginning to play the tune that used to bring me to tears nightly. I heard foot steeps coming towards the stage and felt an arm around and I looked up and saw Micheal Park sit down next to me. 

 _"(Micheal) I bet you didn't know that the sun took a shine to water she drinks up a bit and lifts it up to the sky. Now what she takes from our lake will make a storm cloud that rumbles and tumbles rain. From up high, high, high it's a wheel Winnie this journey of ours. Sun to lake to cloud that showers rain back to the lake below and you'll ride that wheel wherever you go. Not a minute or moments the same, the wheel it keeps you guessing and everything around you is along for the ride. The pond, the bullfrogs, the birch trees and hound dogs, plus people, all people ebb and flow with the tide, tide, tide. It's a wheel Winnie a ripple in water. Girl to wife to mother to daughter. Like all your kinfolk come and gone. can't growing, growing, changing then moving on. Once you drop an anchor the boat gets stuck and it can stay forever (Me) Just floating stuck (Both) Watching life pass it by just floating on top. (Micheal) That's what us Tucks are just floating stuck. Show me how to climb back on the wheel, I'll be there slick as a slingshot. Prepared to get off at the end and share with someone my spot. You can't have living without dying, so you can't call this living what we got. We just are, we just be no before no beyond a rowboat anchored in the middle of a pound. Do you see now child? Do you understand? (Both) It's a wheel Winnie  a ripple in water. Girl to wife to mother to daughter. Like all your kinfolk come and gone. It's a wheel, a wheel Winnie  a circle in motion can't stop growing, growing, changing and moving on..."_  As we both looked at each other after we finished the song I felt Micheal's arms around me in a giant embrace. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen the fabulous Micheal Park!! He was our Pa Tuck when we did the show. He's amazing!!" I announced as he made his way back to his seat in the second row with Robert and Andrew. I could hear him yell

"She tops me in amazingness everyday of the entire week, she's just too humble to admit it aloud!!" I instantly blushed. If there is one thing in this world I find it difficult to take it was praise. 

 _"_ My papa's first Broadway show was when he was eight years old and it was his birthday. His parents and older sister bought tickets to Les Miserables and it became my fathers favorite if you were to force him to pick. He especially loved the character of Inspector Javert, and Enjorlas. He taught me when I was writing for Sonny in Bronx that a villain shouldn't be just a villain and should have some depth and reasoning as to why he is evil. Javert was the character to teach him that rule, so here's my dad's favorite villain song Stars from Les Mis..." I picked up the tune again easily and with an easy grin as I remembered watching my Javert when I was seven and saw it in London. 

_"There, out in the darkness a fugitive running fallen from god. Fallen from grace god be my witness I never shall yield till we come face to face, till we come face to face. He knows his way in the dark, mine is the way of the lord. Those who follow the path of the righteous shall have their reward. And if they fall as Lucifer fell, the flames, the sword. Stars in your multitudes scarce to be counted. Filling the darkness with order and light. You are sentinels silent and sure. Keeping watch in the night, keeping watch in the night. You know your place in the sky, you hold your course and your aim. And each in your season returns and returns and is always the same. And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flames! And so it must be for so it is written on the doorway to paradise. Those who falter and those who fall, must pay the price! Lord let me find him, that I may see him safe behind bars. I will never rest. Till then this I swear, this I swear by the stars!" I finished the song to the amount of applause that I had been receiving all night so far._

_"I_ have no idea how this next song is going to go, I might be in tears again so I'm just giving you all a fair warning. It seems most of these songs still make me cry, I thought they wouldn't but I guess I was wrong for once in my life..." I trailed off starting the notes for the next song. 

 _"There's a grief that can't be spoken. There's a pain goes on and on. Empty chairs at empty tables now my friends are dead and gone. Here they talked of revolution. Here it was they lit the flame. Here they sang about tomorrow and tomorrow never came.  From the table in the corner they could see a world reborn and they rose with voices ringing and I can hear them now! The very words that they were singing became there last communion. On this lonely barricade at dawn. Oh my friends, my friends forgive me. That I live and you are gone. There's a grief that can't spoken, there's a pain goes on and on. Phantoms faces in the windows. Phantom shadows on the door. Oh my friends, my friends don't ask me what your sacrifice was for. Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will sing no more..."     I finished the song luckily with very minimal tears, there were still some but mostly they were just from the memories related to that song._ I beaconed Micheal for this next song because it was a duet that my papa always used to love to play with me.

"My favorite Disney movie as most of my friends and people close to me know is Beauty And The Beast. I used to be bullied and picked on when I was a little girl, Iv'e even been pushed into the orchestra pit one time and was sent to the hospital. While I was there my papa showed me a recording of the old Beauty And The Beast that aired on TV. One song from that musical became the duet that was most popular in my family and it was No Matter What, the song between Belle and Maurice..." Me and Micheal began to play the old song that changed many people's lives.

 _"(Me) Papa Do you think I'm... odd?_   _(Micheal) My daughter odd? Now where would you get an idea like that? (Me) I don't know. It's just well, people talk. (Micheal) They talk about me too. No we're not odd it's true, no family ever saner. Except one Uncle who well... Maybe let that pass. In all you say or do you couldn't make it plainer. You are you're mothers daughter therefor you are class. (Me) So I should just accept I'm simply not like them. (Micheal) They are the common herd and you should take my word. You are unique: creme de la creme. No matter what you do I'm on your side and if my point of view is somewhat misty eyed. There's nothing clearer in my life then what I wish and feel for you and that's a lot... no matter what. (Me) No matter what they say you make me proud. I love the funny way you stand out from the crowd. (Micheal) It's my intention my invention shows the world out there just what we've got... (Me) No matter what. (Micheal) Now some may say that father just exaggerate (Me) That every daughters great? (Micheal) You are! (Me) And every daughter tends to say her fathers tops (Micheal) She pulls out all the stops to praise him (Me) And quite rightly! (Micheal) No matter what the pain we've come this far. I pray that you remain exactly as you are. This really is the case of father knowing best (Me) And daughter too. (Micheal) You're never strange. (Me) Don't ever change. (Both) You're all Iv'e got no matter what..."_ As we finished the duet Micheal gave me a hug and went back off stage as I prepared for the next song. 

"Most people don't know that my papa loved modern musicals just as much as classics. His favorite modern musicals were Fun Home or in this case In The Heights. He jokingly called me Nina because of how hard I always worked trying to please everyone around me. I consider Nina another bucket list character because my voice just always fit with her when I trained it properly probably hours from singing this next song..." I began to play the song to change practically everything about my life Everything I Know.

 _"In this album, there's a picture of the ladies at Daniella's. You can tell it's from the 80's by the volume of their hair. There's Usnavi, just a baby 87' Halloween if it happened on this block Abuela was there. Every afternoon I came she'd make sure  did my homework. She could barley write her name, but even so she would stare at the paper and tell me 'Bueno let's review. Why don't tell me everything you know?" In this album there's a picture of Abulea in Havana , she is holding a rag unsmiling black and white. I wonder what she's thinking does she know she'll be leaving for the city on a cold dark night. And on the day they ran did she dream of endless summers? Did her mother have a plan? Or did they just go? Did somebody sit her down and say "Claudia, get ready, to leave behind everything you know." Everything I know. What do I know? In this folder there's a picture from my high school graduation with a program mid condition and a star beside my name. Here's a picture of my parents as I left for California. She saved everything we gave every little scrap of paper and our lives are in these boxes. While the woman who held us is gone but we go on, we go so hold tight Abuela if your up there. I'll make you proud of everything I know thank you for everything I know..."_ This song always made me emotional even before my parents passing away, so the tears were almost second nature to me.  

"The final song that my papa used to sing for me is from a musical that was kinda underground but I really loved called It Shoulda Been You. I really related to the character of Jenny because I spent most of my life looking in a mirror and hating what I saw. Stretch marks from growing too quickly things like that. And when I first heard this song Beautiful I had a song I related to as a person who still has trouble finding the good things about myself physically." I told the story as my fingers played the keys instead of my papa before me.

_"Poor Jenny! Sweet Jenny! Such a pretty face but oh! How you eat Jenny! I swear there's not a man you couldn't date, if you loose some weight. They think I'm sorta pretty, kinda sexy, almost easy on the eyes, sort of, kinda, almost, someone nearly, why not beautiful? I am kind, always kind they say kindness only matters in the end! In the end- well when the hell is that?! So what I'm freaking fat! Why won't someone say, hey you are beautiful through and through. You are beautiful yes I mean you, truly beautiful I agree. She is beautiful, yes I mean... They are blind, cruel and blind I face this kind of blindness almost everyday. Everyday I hear somebody laugh some perfect blond giraffe, let me hear it now!! Whoooa!! You are beautiful through and through. You are beautiful yes I mean you. Truly beautiful I agree, she is beautiful. She is- They say if you believe in something that makes it true... I am (Jess) Jenny? I'm sorry to barge in your mom sent me to get you... (Me) I'm ready. (Julia) Well don't you look nice..."  We finished the song with bright smiles and laughs as the audience went crazy and the intermission began giving me a fifteen minute break to redo my makeup in my dressing room. I felt another knock on the door for another visiter come to see me._

"It's open!!" I called out spinning around and facing my company as they opened door.

"Alan!! I thought I saw you in box five. I was tempted to make a joke about it." I told him giving him a hug as he dropped a gift and card onto the dressing room counter.

"You should have, you still have time though. How are you holding up? You looked fairly emotional out there. Bobby was tempted to go out there and say screw the show and embrace you and dry your tears for you." Alan explained wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"I'm as well as I could be and I sorta wish he did. Then again I was the idiot who decided Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again that was kind of digging my own grave." I said with a laugh. I went to open up his card which had my name written on it and a rose attached to it.

_Little Ellie,_

_I will never forget the first time I ever saw you, I thought that your father and Julia would be helping me with lyrics so when I saw a five year old girl sitting on the piano I remember thinking "This is absurd, they want to me to work with pretty much a child". But, then I got to know you and I heard your incredible way of writing that reminded me so much of the way Howard had written words on a page._

_I love watching you play piano and seeing your small smile as you play a song that means something to you. I recall the first cover I ever heard you play and it was when you were having a sensory overload during a meeting when everyone in the room was saying how brilliant you were for your age. You simply walked over to the piano and began to play Think Of Me from Phantom and I have never heard a more adorable Christine in my life. I knew at that moment that you were going to become one of the biggest Broadway stars the Great Wide Way has ever seen._

_Happy Birthday, my young and rising star,_

_Love,_

_Uncle Alan_

I opened his gift and could see the Disney logo on the massive bag and as I opened it I gasped at what I had seen. A painting of Belle and Adam in the ballroom with Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip all in the corner cheering for them plus another painting of Belle walking through the village in the opening sequence. 

"You remembered this was my all time favorite movie?!" I asked as I got the call that it was time to reset for the show. Alan took my arm and walked me back to the stage.

"Of course I did, go out there and knock 'em dead kiddo!!" He whispered as we reached the stage and he went back to box five. I decided now was time for my joke about the box five.

"Did I not instruct Leo that box was to remain empty?!" I said to Alan and the entire box laughed as I saw the other people sitting up there with him and tried to not freak out at all. Up there was Sierra and Ramin my favorite Christine and Erik.

"I first met my Uncle when I was two years old, he was visiting my papa for work on the show they were doing and my papa had to run out for a couple of hours and asked Derek to watch me. I was insanely shy at the time of this and still am today so I was hiding from him in my family room under a blanket. I heard footsteps coming my way to the couch and felt the corner of the blanket lift and saw the face of a man I had never met before. He motioned for me to scotch over so I did as he told me and then he moved under the blanket with me. He introduced himself to me as Uncle Derek and even after my parents were married the nickname sorta stuck with him. We spent hours under the blanket until my papa had come home from working with Julia and that's how he found us. Curled up together watching Disney movies under a blanket. That video that you guys all saw as my opening was probably filmed that day when my father got home. I have done so many things over the years my uncle was alive with him. Not just going to the theater either, he took me, Bobby and Dennis to Disneyland two years ago to celebrate getting my first major leading role on the stage..." I turned around and of course another humiliating picture was on the screen, it was me freaking out about seeing the parade and having Belle wave at me. I decided it was time for a little bit of payback.

"Hang on one second people, someone up the lighting and photo booth needs to be taught a lesson if you catch my drift..." I found the perfect piece of ammunition to use against Bobby. It was a photo of him freaking out over Flynn Rider. As it displayed on the screen I could Bobby's yell of

"Oh my god!! It wasn't even that bad, just freaking look at that smolder!!" The entire audience was rolling and I was just drying tears of laughter. 

"Back to the topic at hand and hopefully no more humiliating photographs. My uncle had a massive love for his biggest risk project Hit List, despite the emotions that wrecked that project. His anthem for why he did what he did was called Broadway Here I Come and it was the first song he ever heard for the groundbreaking show..." I began to play the song that changed my Uncle's career for the better.

 _"I'm high above the city I'm standing on the ledge. The view from here is pretty, and I step off the edge. And now I'm falling baby through the sky, through the sky I'm falling baby through the sky. It's my calling baby don't you cry, don't you cry, don't you cry. I'm falling baby through the sky. Toward the street where I'm from, Oh Broadway here I come, here I come, Broadway here I come. The pressure it increases the closer that I get. I could almost fall to pieces, but I'm not quite there yet. See, Iv'e been braving crazy weather, I'm drowning out my cries. I pull myself together, I'm focused on the prize. I'm falling baby through the sky, through the sky, I'm falling baby through the sky. It's my calling baby, don't you cry, don't you cry 'cause I'm falling down through the sky. It's a tune you can hum, oh broadway here I come. Will I remain the same or will I change a little bit? Will I feel broken or totally complete? Will I retain my name when I'm the biggest, hugest hit? Or will I blend in with the rest of the street? The people all are pointing I bet they'd never guess. That the saint that there anointing is frightened of the mess. But even though I fear it I'm playing all my cards baby, now you're gonna here it, when I give them my regards. I'm falling baby through the sky, through the sky, now I'm falling baby through the sky. It's my calling baby don't you cry, don't you cry and I'm falling down through the sky. And I refuse to go numb. Oh Broadway here I come, Broadway, here I come, Broadway, here I come. Oh Broadway here I come, here I come, Here I Come!! And the last thing I hear as the impact grows near. Is it a scream or a cheer? Well, never mind, I'll never find out, 'cause Broadway I am here..."_ As I finished the popular tune that the young and up and coming artist at the time Jimmy Collins had written I felt myself moved at the thought of his music changing my uncle's career and showing him how much being a simply director can mean to a person. I went to grab my guitar from where I put and strapped it around my middle with the sash this time. 

"Now one of my Uncle's favorite bands like most people from Britain was the legendary Beatles. They changed his life from a very young and impressionable age and he wanted me to have the same relationship with them. When my parents got married when I was six, and I woke up from a nightmare he would sing me this song to quiet me down..." I played my guitar with a huge smile at the memory of this song and what it held for me with my Uncle.

 _"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to arise. Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to be free. Blackbird fly, blackbird fly, Into the light of the dark black night. Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to arise. You were only waiting for this moment to arise. You were only waiting for this moment to arise."_ I started getting misty eyed at the end of that song because of how much fun it used to be when I used to play that song once I learned to play guitar from Micheal.

"My uncle if he had to pick an idol I like to think that his idol would definitely was John Lennon. He used to talk about the way his music used to play through his old WalkMan whenever his parents fought because that happened a lot when he was younger. He loved a lot of John Lennon songs but once I learned to play the piano there was one song that he would almost always ask me to play form John's later years. Derek loved to compare his early life to this song..." I began to play the old favorite of both me and my uncle Watching The Wheels Go Round.

 _"People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing. Well they give me all kinds of advice to save me from ruin. Well when I say that I'm okay they look at me kinda strange. Surely you're not happy now that you no longer play the game. People say that I'm lazy, dreaming my life away. Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me. When I tell that I'm doing fine watching the shadows on the wall. Don't you miss the big time boy, you're no longer on the ball? I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round. I really love to watch them roll. No longer riding on the merry go round I just had to let it go. People asking questions lost in confusion. Well I tell them there's no problem only solutions. Well they shake their heads and and they look at me as if I lost my mind. I tell them there's no hurry... I'm just sitting here doing time. I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round. I really love to watch them roll. No longer riding on the merry go-round I just had to let it go..."_ I was in full tears at the end of the song but I quickly dried them before my crowd could see, I have cried enough for one night.  

"My uncle also had a massive secret love for the classic Disney movies, his favorite was mine as well Beauty And The Beast. He loved the idea of love going beyond what someone looks like, it matters if that person is beautiful to you. He used to tell me 'Little love when and if you do fall in don't fall for them for how they look, you'll end up broken in the end.' He wasn't the greatest with relationships before my papa but this was there wedding song..." I began to play the tune that my Uncle always loved since he was a young adult in England. 

 _"Tale as old as time, true as it can be. Barley even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly. Just a little change, small to say the least. Both a little scared, neither one prepared, Beauty And The Beast. Ever just the same, ever a surprise. Ever as before, ever just as sure, as the sun will rise. Tale as old as time tune as old as song. Bitter sweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong. Certain as the sun rising in the east. Tale as old as time tune as old as song. Tale as old as time tune as old as song..."_ I remembered their weeding dance like it was yesterday. I was six years old and that was the day I considered Derek my other father though I continued to call him uncle because the nickname just stuck with me and him. 

"If you were to try to make my Uncle pick one show and one alone to listen to for the rest of his life, it would be the revival of Falsettos. He wasn't around during the original version and my papa bought both of us tickets so we could see it together. Between the three of us, we went through an entire box of Kleenex once we got home. My uncle loved the show, and he had an obsession with the music especially two songs that I am going to play for you now in a melody The Games I Play and Holding To The Ground...."

 _"I don't look for trouble I do not accept blame. Iv'e a good and a bad but there one and the same. Ask me to arose you I will rise and obey these are the games I play. I screw every morning then bathe and drink tea. I been playing canasta disastrously. All my recreation seem to soothe me okay these are the games I play. It's tough with love, love's tough to show. Let me face the music, it's a song that I've been waiting to hear so long, so long ago. I bet on the horses I die by degree. I'm sure his divorce is a tribute to me. Ask me if I love him it depends on the day these are the games I play. It's tough, my friend love's looking strong. Play again the music it's a song I've been waiting to hear for so long, years, years too long. It hurts not to love him, it hurts when love fades. It's hard when part of him is off playing family charades. Ask me if I need him get him out of my way. These are, these are the games, these are the games, these are the only games I play... I was sure growing up I would live the life my mother assumed I'd live. Very Jewish, very middle class and very straight. Where healthy men stayed and marriages were long and great. I smile, I don't complain. I'm trying to keep sane as the rules keep changing. Families aren't what they were. Thank god there's a husband and a child whom I adore. But there's more, so much more, there's always more. Life is never what you planned life is moments you can't understand and that is life. I'm plain I don't astound. I hold to the ground as the ground keeps shifting keeping my balance square. Trying not to care about this man who Marvin loves. But that's my life, he shared my life, yes that's my life. Life is moments you can't understand and that's life. Holding to the ground as the ground keeps shifting. Trying to keep sane as the rules keep changing. Keeping up my head as my heart falls out of sight. Everything will be alright, everything will be alright..."_ I was smiling by the end and knew that combining the two of them was a brilliant idea and I could her the audience cheering for me wildly. 

"For my next song I began to remember more songs that my Uncle had on his WalkMan that I have now for whenever I have a sensory overload due to my Aspergers. There was one song that no matter what always works for me and using that always worked no matter what. He used to use it as well for his parents fighting until they got divorced eventually. I love this song more than anything and it used to really calm me down..." I began to play one of my favorite songs from that old WalkMan The Way It Is. 

 _"Standing in line, marking in time. Waiting for the welfare dime 'cause they can'y buy a job. The man in the silk suit hurries by he catches the poor of old ladies eye. Just for fun he says "Get a job!" That's just the way it is some things  never change. That's just the way it is ah, but don't you believe it. Said hey little boy you can't go where the others go cause you don't look like they do. Said hey old man how can you stand to think that way. Did you really think about it before you made the rules? He said son that's the way it is. Some things will never change. That's the way it is ah, but don't you believe them. Well they passed the law in sixty four to give those who ain't got a lot a little more. But it only goes so far. Because the law don't change another's mind. When all it seems is the hiring time is the line for the color bar no, no. That's just the way it is and some things will never change. That's just the way it is. That's just the way it is, it is, it is."_ I really did treasure that old WalkMan and always kept it with me and have acquired new tapes from people including Dennis who made me a mixtape of every song he has every heard me sing before.

"This next song is from one of my Uncle's favorite modern musicals and a show that I adore about as much as he did called Fun Home. As a kid I dreamed of playing young Alison even though I looked nothing like her. But, this is not a song that Alison sings more the mother Helene Beckdel, my uncle always adored the mother because of her tragedy that came with the LGBTQ community and everything that goes with it. Her song Days and Days always used to bring him to tears..." I began to play the song that probably most of my audience had heard before because the show was universal and divergent.

 _"Welcome to our house on Maple Avenue. See how we polish and we shine. We rearrange and realign. Everything is balanced and... And... Days and days and days. That's how it happens days and days and days. Made of lunches, and car rides, and shirts and socks, and grades and piano and no one clocks the day you disappear. Days and days and days that's how it happens. Days and days and days. Made of posing and bragging and fits of rage and boys my god some of them underaged! Oh how did it all happen here? There was a time your father swept me of my feet with words. We read books, strolled through Munich at night. Drank beer with friends discussed the places we would go. And he said I understood how the world made him ache. But no... But no... That's how it happens. Days made of bargains that I made because I thought as a wife. Because I thought I was meant to. And now my life is shattered and laid bare. Days and days and days and days and days and days... Welcome to our house on Maple Avenue! See how we polish and we shine! We rearrange and realign! Everything is balanced and serine! Like chaos never happens if it's never seen... Don't you come back here. I didn't raise to give away your days like me..."_ I finished the popular show tune and heard voices singing it with me as I played. It felt amazing to bring back just the memory of this show. 

"For my next song I looked to Les Miserables, my uncle's second favorite musical. Without it he would have never been inspired to move to the states after his parents divorce when he was 18. He always loved theater and this show was one of the biggest reasons why. My uncle used to always sing this song to me before I would go to sleep at night and if I woke up in the middle of the night..." I began probably one of the sadder songs on this list because it was a tradition to have my uncle sing this, even though he didn't quite consider himself a very good singer.

 _"God on high, hear my prayer. In my need you have aways been there. He is young, he's afraid, let him rest haven blessed. Bring him home. Bring him home. Bring him home. He's like the son I might have known, if god had granted me a son. The summers die one by one how soon they fly on and on. And I am old and will be gone. Bring him peace, bring him joy. He is young, he is only a boy. You can take, you can give. Let him be, let him live. If I die, let me die let him live. Bring him home bring him home bring him home..."_   I knew this was the song to bring me to tears and I was correct I was crying again and this time Bobby must have thought screw it because his arms were around me and drying my tears as the audience waited for me to collect myself. I nodded to Bobby and he gave a me smile and left me to continue my show. 

 "I'm so sorry if you lost all respect for me audience I am still a bit depressed about having lost my two favorite people in the entire world. This next song is another one that might make me cry. See, if I had to pick a favorite show on Broadway right now it would be Come From Away. My uncle bought me, my papa, and my auntie Julia all tickets and we flew down to see the show in Toronto because it's my aunties favorite show in the entire world right now. I have dreamed ever since seeing the show to fly airplanes just like Beverly Bass or Jenn Colella's character. Something about that performance mixed with my obsession with flight it all just kind of hit me in that moment. So if I'm not on Broadway in ten years I'm probably flying airplanes..." I grabbed my guitar next to my piano and began to strum out the tune that made me want to change my opinion on life. 

 _"My parents must have thought they had a crazy kid 'cause I was one of those kids who always knew what I wanted. They took me down to the airport to watch all the planes departing watching them fly something inside of me started. I was eight when I told them I'd be a pilot. But I was too young and too short and there were no female captains and my dad said "Just be patient" he said "Just see what happens." But I took my first lesson came down from the sky and told my father I'd fly for the rest of my life. And I got my first job flying for a mortician five dollars an hour for flying dead bodies I had to climb over their faces to get to my seat. And then the wheels lift off the ground is falling backwards I'm suddenly alive. Suddenly I'm in the cockpit suddenly I'm not too young or too short and the passengers in the backseat don't complain. Suddenly I'm flying company charters, suddenly everything's high, suddenly there's nothing in between me and the sky. American Airlines had the prettiest planes so I applied as a flight engineer. But, the world war two pilots, they all complained. They said "Girls shouldn't be in the cockpit" "Hey Lady, Hey Baby hey why don't you grab us a drink!" And the flight attendants weren't my friends back then and they said "Are you better than us, do you think?" But, I kept getting hired and the world war two crew they retired and the girls all thought much higher of me. 1986 the first female American captain in history! Suddenly I'm in the cockpit, suddenly I've got my wings, suddenly all of those pilots protesting me well they can get their own drinks haha. Suddenly nobody's saying "Stay grounded!" looking down passing them by suddenly nothing's in-between me and the sky! Suddenly I've got an all female crew the news talked it made headlines across the world. Suddenly it stopped no one saying "You can't" or "You won't" or "You know your not anything, because you're a girl". Suddenly I'm getting married and were putting pins on the map where we've flown. Suddenly I am a mother and suddenly shocked at how much they've grown. Suddenly I'm wondering how my parents would feel seeing me teaching men to be pilots and suddenly I am a senior instructor and somehow I'm fifty-one. Suddenly I'm flying Paris to Dallas across the Atlantic and feeling calm till suddenly someone on air to air traffic says "At eight forty six there's been a terrorist action" and the one thing I loved more than anything was used as the bomb. Suddenly I'm in a hotel suddenly something has died. Suddenly there's something in between me and the... Sky.."_  I heard whoops and hollers from the third row along with the rest of the crowd and looked up and saw Jenn giving me a wink.

"Most people don't know about this but my Uncle had the massive guilty pleasure of Hedwig And The Angry Inch. He loved the characters and musical numbers so when he heard that it was coming back to Broadway the same year that Bronx was first on Broadway when I was ten, he bought me Bobby, Dennis and my papa all tickets in the second row. Watching those actors bring those characters to life for me was incredible to see my favorite character Yitzach is tragically not on here because while my papa loved that character and all the passion he had for being herself I had to let my Uncle have the last laugh here. I learned this piano melody version from my new adoptive guardian Micheal and to commemorate that I am going to have him do this with me." Right as I recalled the story I saw Leo bringing out another piano and Micheal coming out to the amount of applause. We got ready to start the piano routine and gave each other a shared smile.

 _"Rain falls hard, burns dry. A dream or a song that hits you so hard. Filling you up then suddenly gone. Breathe feel love, give free, know in your soul like your blood knows the way from your heart to your brain knows that your whole. And your shining, like the brightest star a transmission of the midnight radio. And your spinning like a forty five ballerina dancing to your rock and roll. Here's to Patti and Tina and Yoko, Aretha and Nona and Nico and Me and all the strange rock and rollers you know you're doing all right. So hold onto each other gotta hold on tonight. And you're shining like the brightest star a transmission of the midnight radio. And you're spinning your new forty five all the misfits and the losers well you know you're rock and rollers spinning to your rock and roll. Lift up your hands.... Lift up your hands... Lift Up Your Hands.... LIFT UP YOU'RE HANDS!!"_ I could almost not hear myself think after the audiences cheering and whistling for that one, which made me really happy because this was our composition. Micheal gave a little wave and gave me a hug before walking back off stage.

"My uncle loved the one man band Five For Fighting, he took me to see him in Chicago when I was ten years old and it changed my life. He has some really beautiful music that he has written over the years. Which is why I am doing a completion of my uncles two favorite songs by him Superman and The World..."

_"I can't stand to fly I'm not that naive. I'm just out to find the better part of me. I'm more than a bird I'm more than plane more than some pretty face beside a train. It's not easy to be me. Wish I could cry fall upon on my knees find a way to lie about a home I'll never see. It may sound absurd but don't be naive even heroes have the right to bleed. I may be absurd but  you  won't concede even heroes have the right to dream. It's not easy to be me. Up, up and away, away with me. It's alright you can all sleep sound tonight I'm not crazy or anything. I can't stand to fly I'm not that naive. Men weren't meant to fly with clouds between their knees. I'm only a man in a silly red sheet. Digging for kryptonite  on this one way street. Only a man in a silly red sheet looking for special things inside of me. It's not easy being me.... Got a package full of wishes a time machine, a magic wand, a globe made out of gold. No instructions or commands laws of gravity or indecision's to uphold. Printed on a box I see ACHMES Build-a-world-to-be take a chance grab a piece help me to believe it. What kind of world do you want? Think anything. Just start at the start, build a masterpiece. Be careful what you wish for history starts now... Should there be people or peoples. Money, funny pedestals for fools that never pay. Raise your army choose your steeple. Don't be shy the satellites can look the other way. Loose the earthquakes keep the faults fill the ocean without the salt let everyman have his own land. Sunlights on the bridge, sunlights on the the way tomorrows calling. There's more to this than love. What kind of world do you want.... What kind of world do you want? What kind of world do you want? Think anything. Just start at the start build a masterpiece. What kind of world do you want... What kind of world do you want."_

"My final song for the evening is one of my Uncle's all time favorites..." I announced looking at Robert and motioning to the stage and he nodded and stood up to get to the stage with me to preform time.

"My uncle loved one song from Tuck more than all of the others, even if he had to be somewhere else for the evening he would try to be back by the second act and watch this song from the wings. The song was called Time. It was about the life of the eldest Tuck boy named Miles and how he lost everything he ever loved due to the water that he drank in the spring near my character Winnie's house..." I grabbed the guitar for Robert since a few years ago I taught him how to play this song on the guitar and got my fingers ready for the final song unless they wanted an encore to which I would probably Welcome To The Fun home with Bobby and Dennis like in the old days.

 _"(Robert) I had a farm house with a grandfather clock where I would teach time to my son. Our lessons would begin at twelve o' clock sharp when the hands would come in as one. I'd say the big hand counts minutes it's so tightly wound it chases the minutes to make the hours go round. I taught Thomas constellations in the sky and how to tell a sliver maple from a cotton wood. I taught Thomas to divide and multiply but one he never understood was time. As I watched him grow, time he would never know time for my regret resides time If I only knew the what and how and who that time surely divides. There was a farm house with a grandfather where one day I woke up alone.  They feared I was magic, they feared I was cursed, but mostly they feared the unknown. The big hands the father the small hands the son and there never came a time when they came back as one. I taught Thomas how to catch a firefly how to make a pebble skip and rowboat skim. She took Thomas and never said goodbye the one thing I could never give to him... Was time, time I'm left with nothing... Nothing but time (Me) Miles I don't have a father anymore... (Robert) You don't? (Me) No. But I will always love him for the rest of my life. And I promise Thomas will love you for the rest of his..."_ We finished the song to rousing applause from the audience as well as the cheering for an encore. I beckoned Bobby Dennis and Micheal over to where I was.

"So I have an idea for an encore but it requires the both of your guys help..." I whispered to them as they nodded.

"I want to do Come To The Fun Home... You guys in?"

"Oh, hell yeah I love that one!!" Bobby stage whisper yelled.

"Yeah, that sounds great, though our voices have changed since we did that as children." Dennis mentioned.

"That doesn't matter, they won't care!!" I whispered back as we all took each others hands with me in the center and paraded ourselves back out into the crowd.

"I have one very special idea for the encore that you guys want but first I needed my two best goofs in the entire world Bobby and Dennis because we used to this song as children. We all saw Fun Home together later on after me and my parents and afterwards we took it upon ourselves to learn this song to cheer each other up and to keep us going through long days of school. So band are we ready down there.." I heard a yell of "Yes!!" And then the music started and brought me back to my childhood.

___"(Dennis) Your uncle died, you're feeling low. You've got to burry your mama but you don't know where to go. Your papa needs his final rest. You got, you got, you got to give the best! Well (Bobby and me) Come to the fun home! (Dennis) That's the Bechdel Funeral Home, baby (Bobby and me) The Beckdel Fun Home (Dennis) Next to Johnson's department store  (All of us) In beach creek! (Bobby and me) The Bechdel Fun Home (Dennis) We take dead bodies everyday of the week so (All of us) You've got no reason to roam use the Beckdel Funeral home! What it is, what it is ho, ho, ho, what it is, what is now baby. (Bobby) Sock it to me (Dennis) Sock it to me (Bobby) Sock it to me baby! (Dennis) Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me Baby! (Bobby) Our caskets (me and Dennis in the background) Oooh (Bobby) Are satin lined (Me and Dennis) Oooh (Bobby) And we got so many models guaranteed to blow your mind! You know our mourners (All of us) So satisfied  (Bobby) They like they like they like (All of us) Our formaldehyde Yeah! Come to the fun home! (Bobby) That's the Bechdel Funeral Home baby! (Me and Dennis) Come to the fun home (Me) We've got Kleenex and your choice of psalm. (Me and Dennis) Stop by the fun home! (Bobby) Think of Bechdel when you need to embalm. (All of us) You've got no reason to roam, use the Bechdel Funeral Home What it is what it is! (Bobby) Ow! (Me and Dennis)  What it is What it is Hoo, hoo, hoo. (Bobby)  Tell 'em what we got Tell 'em what we got, Tito What else have we got? What else have we got, you guys? (Me) Smelling salts for if you're queasy (Dennis) Fold in chairs that open easy (Bobby) These are cool, you know what they are? Flags with magnets for your car! (Dennis) These are wires and they hold flowers (Me) Here's a sign for the names and the hours (Bobby) Stand right here when you sign the book (Dennis) And this called an aneurysm hook En Garde! (All of us) Come to the fun home ample parking down the street. Here at the fun home body prep that can't be beat. You'll like the fun home in our hearse there's a backwards seat. That's why we made up this poem we're the Bechdel Funeral Home!  
 What it is What it is Hoo, hoo, hoo _ _What it is_ _What it is_ _Now, baby ho, ho, ho!"_   
  


"Thank you all so much! It's been wonderful to preform again and you were an amazing audience!!!" I yelled out as I walked off stage with my two best friends right behind me. 

"You were amazing!!" Matt told me when he got backstage giving me a hug and some pink roses.

"Thank you so much Matt. It feels good to be back here, thank you for the flowers b the way. I hate to leave you hanging but I'm going out with my friends and family, we'll have to catch up some other time, sorry..." I explained grabbing Alan's bag and Micheal's, Richard's and Andrew's gifts for me. 

When I got back to the car I found Alan talking with Bobby, Dennis and Micheal.

"There she is!! I'm so proud of you" Micheal told me giving me a massive hug which turned into a group hug from everybody including my auntie and Jess.

"You were literally slaying and that encore how did you guys learn all the blocking for that?" Jess asked us with a laugh at how we were literally bouncing around like fools on that stage.

"We saw the show so many times with my Uncle and papa while it was playing we knew all the words to every song before the cast album came out for everybody..." I told her slightly embarrassed at the fact that she had to see that.

We all drove back to my place and after the craziness of the night I had after cake and ice cream I literally feel asleep on Bobby's shoulder. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!! Man this chapter has been a pain in my rear end lately and I'm behind in my other fanfic's now thanks to my big brain. I decided to make this it's own separate chapter because I was so excited about it that I just couldn't wait!!


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